Firefighters at Newton, Massachusetts’ Fire Station 3 are still waiting to find out if they were exposed to asbestos while contractors were working on renovations at their station house last week. During the renovations, debris from the ceiling fell on or near four firefighters. The debris may have contained the toxic mineral.

According to an article in the Newton Tab, a report from FLI Environmental Inc., which was hired by the city to test for asbestos, came back negative. But the city is still awaiting the results of a state test conducted by the Division of Occupational Safety.

Officials say they pursued the situation because they were aware that there were indeed asbestos-containing materials inside the building, which was built prior to the change in asbestos laws.

“Our foremost concern is for the safety and health of building occupants,” said mayoral spokesman Jeremy Solomon. “Clearly, before any work is done [in the future] in the walls or ceilings, better precautions need to be taken.”

Lieutenant Allan Leone, community liaison for the Newton Fire Department, said that as far as he knew, none of the firemen had visited a doctor. Firemen have continued to occupy the building since the incident occurred last Wednesday.

“I asked the station to be closed and they said no,” said fire union president, Tom Lopez. “A lot of people didn’t know what environment they are working in.”

Lopez says he isn’t entirely convinced that firefighters are safe from asbestos, based on the report from FLI Environmental, and would prefer to wait for the results of the other tests before making any determinations about the safety of the station.

“If asbestos didn’t pose a threat, why would you spend thousands and thousands of dollars to have asbestos removed?” Lopez asked, noting that as he spoke, a cleaning company was busy clearing the site of asbestos.

Solomon responded, “We are taking every precaution to ensure there are no safety hazards present … We are aware that asbestos exists in the building.”

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